Not too many teenagers would take golf croquet seriously, but with the encouragement of his grandfather, Murray McNae, the 16-year-old Hughes quickly developed an aptitude for the classic lawn game.
Scoff if you want, but how many of us have been invited to play sport in Egypt, getting the chance to visit the famous pyramids near Cairo?
Throw in his first national-level title when he won the Duncan Dixon Invitation for players ranked in the top 20, and the kid finds himself in demand for both the Under-21 youth team and, more importantly, the senior squad for next year's world championships.
Think about that - how many decent club players have competed in this sport every summer for decades, before and after retirement, and not reached the level this teenager gets to naturally?
If anyone truly deserves a silver fern on her black singlet, it's the hard-working McGhie.
Roller Derby has a strong cult following in this country, but naturally it's easier to form strong teams in the major centres where there are more diverse demographics among the bigger populations.
That didn't stop McGhie and a few dedicated women raising a team from scratch in the River City, rather than taking the easy road to link up with one of the Taranaki or Palmerston North crews.
Four years later, the River City Rollers are a fixture on the roller derby scene.
Wanganui hosts big development camps, and McGhie had honed her own craft to the point where she not only lifted her team to a competitive level, but earned a spot on the roster of ladies chasing the world title in Texas.
It's never where you start, it's about how hard you're willing to work to get where you're going.
I can see my bank account taking a little bit of a hit next winter.
With Steelform Wanganui's hopes of making the 2014 Lochore Cup playoffs, perhaps thereby saving the careers of their coaching regime hanging by a thread in Te Kuiti last Saturday, I got on the ol' Facebook messenger to my friend and West Coast senior loose forward, Alan Monk.
I've had a long association with the Monk family from my days as a wet-behind-the-ears sports reporter with the Greymouth Star, starting with netball from which I watched sister Olivia as a tough goal shoot for Cobden, before picking up the rugby brief and going on Heartland trips with Alan and younger brother Michael, who tragically lost his life in the Pike River mine disaster.
Calling in a favour, I asked Alan and his boys to make sure they absolutely dumped Thames Valley at Rugby Park that day, insuring the North Islanders left Greymouth with zero competition points.
A bit of a tall order, given the Coasters had only one win up to then - against Wanganui in pouring rain that would have kept an eskimo in his igloo.
"If you can promise me a bar tab at the Grand Hotel in Wanganui, it's a done deal," was Mr Monk's forthright reply.
Agreement made, I could argue the Red 'n Whites didn't quite live up to their end of the bargain after they only put the desperately unlucky Thames Valley away 27-22, meaning they still took what could have been a crucial point out of the match.
But given Wanganui grabbed two points from King Country to avoid the ignominy of missing out on the Heartland playoffs for the first time ever, I guess I shouldn't quibble over the fine print.
So, Monk and the crew have a cold one waiting for them next time they make their way to Cooks Gardens.
A man is nothing without his word.
